Have we had a car winter tyres thread yet this year?

Just got mine for the new car – four Nokian WR D4s for £250 delivered from Black Circles, and everything was cheaper than I was expecting having last bought some 4 yrs ago. Obviously it varies depending on size, but I suspect prices may go up from now on.

Just thinking about fitting mine. Grim on top of the hills this afternoon. Last week I was getting sunburnt on early evening walks.

It’s turned colder up here the last week definitely.

How bizarre! I’ve just got mine out of the shed to put on the car tomorrow. I don’t normally go this early but my summer tyres are on there last legs. I’ve even bought my winters for my VW T6 I have on order. How organised am I?

Now lets sit back and wait for the nay sayers, who are such good drivers, they don’t need winter tyres. I wish I knew how to post the video of my RWD Vito going up a snow and ice covered slope in the Alps a few years ago. Cheap winter tyres on, and it just flew up. It was great watching all the other residents of our apartment stopping at the bottom to put their chains and socks on.

Going on both the wife’s 325 and my 435 next week. Summer cars been put in hibernation, tyre’s down handbrake off. Autumn here :-)

We did, a bit http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/snow-socks

After starting that thread I’m still not sure to buy any for my 120d, what with living in he mild south east, able to work from home and having and alternate part time 4×4 for emergencies….

Will put mine on in november, its not cool enough here in the SE yet.
Just need to source some for my Wife’s new car

What did you decide Kryton? I have a set of them that are unused and in their packaging, and highly unlikely ever to be used by me, if you’re interested?

I hadn’t decided yet thegreatape. Do yo have wheels and tyres? I need run flats…

Here’s a nay sayer. Youre going no where when the bloke in the m3 in front of you gets it sideways and blocks the road. Only time I’ve ever been stuck in the snow or ice is down to the roads being blocked by other vehicles.

Well despite calling them snake oil for years (I still do) my car needs 4 tyres in the next couple of weeks so I might get some.

Wife wrote her car off on black ice in feb, when I went to pick her up and get the stuff sorted out, my car didn’t slide at all.
Winter tyres on mine, summers on hers.
There were 3 cars in ditches within 200m of where she crashed. Still damn glad the tree got in the way otherwise she would have gone in the river.
Not a direct comparison but I know I had substantially more grip in my car due to the tyres

I’ve got some steel wheels with Pirelli snow tyres that are for sale as I no longer have the car they fitted on. That was a Fiesta so doubt they’ll be any good for anything bigger – R14 I think. I have another set of steel wheels with the same tyres for my Zafira which I still have, and I’ll be putting the Nokians on the alloys of my new car, and then leaving them in all year round. We’ve a work car that has winters on all year round and don’t seem to wear any worse, and friends have found the same. As scotroutes will at some point testify, every month up here sees a temperature as low as 7 at some point, so for me it’s probably no problem leaving them on.

The Autosocks are size 620, whatever that means.

I’ll fit mine later this month (I’m away for most of this month). It’s not just for snow but the winter tyres do better in rain/cold/frosts too. I.e British winters.

The other thing is tyre wear and running the right tyres are the right time if the year, my summer tyres are still going strong with 37K on my car and the winters look almost new.

Ran winter tyres on the old car and they were great. New car now and I was thinking of getting some all season tyres when the existing tyres die. Seem to be a good compromise for the UK. Especially as I won’t be hooning around in a people carrier. http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/92863/all-season-tyres-test-2015-top-all-weather-tyres-tested

I’m really not sure mine would be justified given the conditions above, although having written off one car this year and bought a shiny new 185bhp RWD hatch I am feeling a bit paranoid

I run them all year round, mainly due to the mileage meaning by Spring they’re not worth saving for another winter and with most mileage being central to NW Scotland, they’re worth having.

Fronts are just about done, so replacements are imminent. Yokohama W drives all round. Generally get about 36k out of a full set.

A bit early yet, while we are Scotland I’m in the south.

End of the month should be fine, and if it snows before – only takes an hour or so to get them on (handy having a compressor and decent jack).

I finally took the rears off mine and put the summer tyres on last month.

Not entirely sure the current set are good for the winter though, might need a new pair. Haven’t decided. Is it just me, or is it finally catching on? I’ve been half looking for used sets again but there’s loads more people selling new sets, at better prices, than previous years I think

Have Goodyear four seasons on my yeti, just coming up to 11k miles, no excessive wear, other than the shoulders on the front, but that says more about my driving style than the tires!

Would recommend them as a year round option, quite good in mud in fields as well!

Here’s a nay sayer. Youre going no where when the bloke in the m3 in front of you gets it sideways and blocks the road. Only time I’ve ever been stuck in the snow or ice is down to the roads being blocked by other vehicles.

You’re missing the point of winter tyres. The grip on cold wet roads is night and day compared to your average summer tyre in my experience. Which is why they’re a legal requirement in some countries, and a vast improvement in performance for a good 6 months of the year (if you live up north!). It could well be the difference between sitting and enjoying a nice coffee, and lying dead in a field somewhere.

And if the bloke in the M3 has winter tyres on, he won’t be stuck and blocking the road…

As scotroutes will at some point testify, every month up here sees a temperature as low as 7 at some point,

That’s a 10:4. I kept an eye on it all year. Just not worth having “summer” tyres.

My car’s booked in for a week on Monday.

Here’s this year’s winter tyre test from TCS (the Swiss equivalent of the AA)
They tested two sizes; 165/70 R14 81T and 205/55 R16 91H

Looks like Goodyear Ultragrip 9 are a good bet…

TCS tyre test

Here’s a nay sayer. Youre going no where when the bloke in the m3 in front of you gets it sideways and blocks the road. Only time I’ve ever been stuck in the snow or ice is down to the roads being blocked by other vehicles.

Fair point about being stuck, but the compound and pattern on winter tyres make a difference in cold weather, to both grip and stoppinng distances. Apparently they improve mpg too but I’ve never experienced this.

fettlin – Member

Would recommend them as a year round option, quite good in mud in fields as well!

This year, I never actually took the fronts off, because of reasons. But every other bloody year, I take the winter tyres off and then forget, and park in a ditch or a swamp like normal, then can’t get back out :lol: Or I borrow my dad’s car and get it stuck. You just kind of forget, “normal people cars can’t do this”

Well, it’s £521 for a set of steels AND the top (in various tests) Conti TS850’s on them. I need someone from where I live to post up about the necessity first. Although I don’t do many miles, I do have to travel around sometimes to be where I need to be. It’d be just my luck to be in Kent when snow starts causing issues on the M20/M25. But they could be £521- for a once in a winter experience. I’m just not convinced I need them in my locality.

I have a set of Michelin Alpin 5’s for my Audi A2 ready for the end of this month. Winter tyres make a huge difference.

Kryton, as many are saying, it’s not just snow where they’re better.

Yes but the long term forecast I just looked at had it at less than 7 degrees for one week in Feb.

Kenya?

Kryton57 – Member

Yes but the long term forecast I just looked at had it at less than 7 degrees for one week in Feb.

Is that peak? Average? Day or night? Ground or air temps?

I think the really important thing, is that winter tyres are better than allrounder tyres in the worst conditions. And not just in terms of snow/cold/ice or even water (*) but also they tend to come at times of least visibility- more rain, more road dirt, more darkness. Allrounder tyres are better than winter tyres in the best conditions, when it counts least.

(* my winter tyres have always performed better in standing water than equivalent allrounder tyres; I don’t think this is a given though.)

Well, it’s £521 for a set of steels AND the top (in various tests) Conti TS850’s on them. I need someone from where I live to post up about the necessity first. Although I don’t do many miles, I do have to travel around sometimes to be where I need to be. It’d be just my luck to be in Kent when snow starts causing issues on the M20/M25. But they could be £521- for a once in a winter experience. I’m just not convinced I need them in my locality.

They aren’t snow tyres. They are for cold weather.

Bought my (2WD) Yeti a set of steels and Conti 850s for £400 a few months back (205/55 R16, I think). Figure I’ll stick them on at the end of the month – still quite warm round here south of Oxford.

A note on cost – using winters means your summers last longer before they need to be replaced, kind of paying up front for your next set of tires.

Oh, and if anyone has a Peugeot *06 then I’ve got a set of Conti 830s on steels to go!

I have found that the times I am driving (7:30am and 4-5pm) during the winter the air temps are normally 7 degrees or below from Nov through to March even in the SE

They aren’t snow tyres. They are for cold weather

Thy tested best for cold & wet which is more akin to the SE than full on snow?

They aren’t snow tyres. They are for cold weather
Thy tested best for cold & wet which is more akin to the SE than full on snow?

Eh? Just get some bought and fitted.

I thought you we telling me not to get those tyres…?

If I lived north of Glasgow/Edinburgh, then yes, I would fit winter tyres, if I could afford the additional cost. As I live in East Anglia, and therefore south of Newcastle, I don’t. I’m sorry to say that it’s one more consumerist thing that is, by and large, in this country, completely unnecessary.

Never had any issues when living in SE BC, which was much more snowy and colder.

But at least your disposable incomes keep the wheels of industry and capitalism turning, so well done everyone.

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I think what he meant was, don’t think of them as “snow tyres”, think of them as “cold weather tyres” because they’re not just good at snow. But it could be misinterpreted as “they’re just cold weather tyres, not for snow”.

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